Ras Malai

﻿R﻿asmaili is one of the most popular delicious sweet dishes of India. This amazing dish is prepared with milk. The milk is first curdled and the chhena (paneer or cheese) is collected and why is drained off. It is then made into small balls and boiled. These balls are then soaked in sweetened, thicken, creamy milk flavored with rose essence and garnished with almonds and pistachio nuts. Ras Malai is very soft and spongy in texture, and it melts easily in a person’s mouth. You will definitely fall in love with this sweet in first bite. Ras malai is either white in color or yellow. It gets the yellow color if saffron is added for flavoring.

Ras Malai is usually served during many festive occasions and as a dessert after the main meals in Indian weddings. It is usually served chilled. Ras Malai can be made easily at home, the recipe of making the Ras Malai may look difficult and lengthy but it is easy to make.

1. In a big stainless steel heavy bottom sauce pan boil 8 cups of milk on low heat, with a cooking spoon stir periodically because milk tend to burn from the bottom.

2. Once the milk come to a boil, add the lemon juice little at a time and keep stirring, until milk start to curdle and separate from the whey. Turn the stove off and let it stand for about 15 minutes.

In a pan boil milk

Add lemon juice in boiling milk

3. Take a cheese cloth or towel and line it over the colander. Place the colander in the sink, then pour the curdled milk into the colander and let it drain.

4. Wash the chenna (cheese) for few times in running tap water to rinse the lemon juice out.

With a towel line the colander

Pour the chenna into colander

5. Lift the cloth off the colander, gather up the ends and twist and squeeze to drain the water out of the chenna, or gather the edges of the cloth and fold them over to cover the chenna and place it in the colander and fill a heavy pot with water and set directly on top of the cloth wrapped cheese in the colander and leave it aside until all the water drain out.

Lift the cloth off the colander

Gather the ends of cloth & twist & squeeze

6. Once all the water drained out, take the chenna out from the cloth and place over the counter or rolling board and began kneading with the heel of your hand. If you have a very moist chhena, when you mash the entire chhena will get stuck to the counter but if you have nicely squeezed chhena then as you mash by dragging your palms, your palms will automatically get greased by the fats from the chhena, which aids you to mash and smoothen it better. In case your chhena has become too dry or too hard add few drops of water to make the chenna smooth and soft. You could also use rolling pin to mash the chenna.

7. Add all purpose flour (maida) in the chenna and keep kneading until there is no lumps and cheese become soft and smooth.

8. If chenan is sticking on the counter it means there is water in the chenna then wrap the chenna in a towel and leave for a while, towel will soak the water.

9. Once you get a smooth chhena (paneer), bring together the mashed and smooth cheena and make it like a dough.

Water is squeezed out from chenna

Transfer chenna on the counter

Knead cheena with the heel of your hand

Chenna dough

10. Divide the dough into 16 to 20 equal parts without making the balls. Take a portion of the dough and roll it in between your palms in to a ball without any cracks, or over the rolling board roll them in circular motion and make a smooth and round ball.

11. Some rasgullas do not appear to have a smooth outer appearance because they may not have been pressed and mashed well, then each time you roll the cheena mash the cheena with the thumb in the pam and roll until you form a round ball.

12. Now with your palms press the ball gently and make it like patties. There should not be any cracks in the patties otherwise they will break while boiling them.

13. While rolling the balls if dough becomes dry then add few drops of water in the dough and mix and knead to make it soft.

14. While making rasugalla balls if paneer is sticking in your hands then grease your hand a little that will help you to make smooth balls.

15. In the 4 quart pressure cooker add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Chenna balls

In the pressure cooker bring water to boil

16. Drop gently 8 to 10 chenna patties into the boiling water and close the lid of the pressure cooker with the weight and let the pressure build up.

17. Once the cooker starts making a noise from then count 7 minutes and turns the heat off.

18. Release the steam from the pressure cooker by running the cold water in the sink.

19. Open the cooker and allow the rasgulla patties to settle down before touching them. They have expanded to almost double their original size and will be delicate when hot.

Drop chenna patties in boiling water

Patties are expanded

20. Once rasugllas cool down then with a slotted serving spoon lift one rasgulla at a time and transfer them into the pre made thick milk. Repeat until you boil all the chenna patties.

With the spoon drop the rasugllas into thick milk

Give a boil to milk

21. Once you boil all the patties and transfer them into the milk, then place the pan over the stove on low heat, give a boil so that patties absorb the milk, turn the heat off and add rose essence and half of the sliced nuts and mix.22. Once Rasmali cool down transfer them to serving bowl and decorate them with other half of sliced almonds and pistachio nuts and place them in the refrigerator. Serve them chilled.

Sprinkle half of the nuts and mix

Serve Ras Malai chilled

﻿Tips:﻿

1. Food processer could be used to make the chenna soft.

2. The success of your rasgullas depends on how smooth and soft you knead the chenna.

3. The chenna balls should not have any cracks otherwise they will break while boiling them.

4. Boil rasgulla in plain water this make it easier for the rasgulla to absorb water and cook thoroughly and they stay white.

5. Do not boil too many patties at one time because they will squish with each other and would not have enough space to expand and remain hard.

﻿Directions for making the chenna dough with food processor:﻿

1. Add all the chenna, all- purpose flour in the food processor and run it for less than a minute.

2. If chenna become too dry or too hard then add few drops of water or as required and run it until chenna become soft and smooth and there are no lumps left.

3. Do not over knead because the oil will come out form the chenna and you will not be able to make smooth balls.

﻿Directions for making the Rasgullas without the pressure cooker:﻿

If you do not have the pressure cooker or you prefer to cook in a sauce pan then you may. 1. Take a big sauce pan and add 6 cups of water and bring it to boil.

2. Gently drop 8 chenna patties into the boiling water, cover the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes on medium heat, turn the heat off.3. Patties will expand in to double the size. Let the patties settle down then with the slotted serving spoon lift one patty at a time and transfer them to the pre made thick milk and repeat until you boil all the chenna patties.4. Once you boil all the chenna patties and add them into the milk, then place the pan over the stove on a low heat and give a boil so that patties absorb the milk, turn the heat off.﻿Please take the time to let me know what you think about my recipe. Your comments would be helpful to me to improve the recipe.